Phone Halo Protect

Phone Halo Protect, Locates, and helps you recover your lost & misplaced stuff using software and a Bluetooth device (purchased at www.phonehalo.com). Protect: Prevents you from leaving your valuables behind. Locate: Find your misplaced phone or items by causing the item to ring. Recover: Recover your stuff with GPS. Available for Android, iPhone and Blackberry. (For Android version 2.0 and higher)

Price: Free App, Bluetooth device $49.95 for, $99.95 for 2

AndroidTapp.com Android App Review:

Pros & Cons:

Pros

Cool, convenient, and complete method to find lost keys, purse, phone or other valuable items

Can prevent loss of items and even help find valuables

Does not continually use GPS (which is know to drain battery), it only takes a snapshot when out of range

Cons

Could use improvement on using the Bluetooth device to find your phone

Cannot tell charge level of Bluetooth device

We’ll split this review into two parts; one for the Phone Halo Android app then the necessary Phone Halo Protect Bluetooth device.

Android App and Bluetooth Device Features:

Have you ever lost track of your phone, purse or keys and pondered, “I wish someone would invent a way to track them”. Well, that someone we’re reviewing today is Phone Halo. The Phone Halo Android app is used in combination with the Phone Halo Protect Bluetooth device to help you find lost keys or other important items you can attach the dongle to. The app helps in 3 major ways:

Loss Prevention

Once the app is installed, it works like a Bluetooth leash and both the phone will vibrate and ring while the device chimes alerting you that you may have left either.

Find in Proximity

You can also send an alert from the phone to sound off the dongle as well as send a signal from the device to make the phone vibrate and play a ringtone. The latter needs some works as it vibrates the phone yet plays the ringtone at the last notification volume level. So if you had it set low, you’re going to have to rely on that in combination with vibration sound.

Track via GPS and Social

If you actually do lose either dongle or phone while the app is connected, rest assured the app marks the last place your phone was within range of the dongle via GPS so you can track it. The app has options to blast out various types of alerts with GPS location information should you enable them; i.e. via SMS text message to contacts, email, even Twitter. If you truly lose your phone, the app features a Lock mechanism with passcode to unlock.

Phone Halo Bluetooth Device Features:

The Bluetooth dongle is small, similar in size to car alarm remotes. The model we reviewed on has an On/Off switch, small toggle button for enabling/disabling chime or that same button can be held for more than 3 seconds sending vibrate/ring alerts to the phone, and Micro USB charging port.

Although you cannot tell the charge level of the device, Phone Halo did tell us future software enhancements will allow you to check battery level of the device via phone. It’s recommended to charge overnight and it gets you about one weeks use.

There is only one high pitch sound chime for the Bluetooth device, and yes it’s quite the one that affects the dogs a bit. But we’re told future models will ability to add user customized MIDI ringtones.

AndroidTapp.com Rating

(4.4 out of 5)

Should you Download Phone Halo? If you’re barking at the price, it’s actually reasonable for the features, functionality, plus time and money you could save if you lost your personal valuables Phone Halo could be connected to. Our decision… Yes!